Maybe we had too much caffeine, but for some reason, I ended up having an interesting discussion on education with my husband today, and how no matter how many pre- and after-school programs are offered, kids mostly need parental involvement and encouragement to learn and succeed. We were very astute this morning, indeed!
This discussion then led us to what people aspire to. I've noticed some young people, particularly in Center City, do not aspire to go to college or gain training for a successful job. (I realize some just don't have the means, but I'm talking motivation.) They're more focused on social relationships and impressing their peers or meeting someone and starting a life together. I wish them luck, but without some education - a high school diploma, even - they're looking at a difficult path for themselves and the children they may one day have.
After reaching this topic, we somehow began discussing how our society gauges people by what they earn (or act like they earn) rather than who they are. (We really fired up those brain cells!) It's seems to be a particularly American trait that we are so impressed by highly educated people earning big bucks, yet we write off the people around us who most often impact our lives.
Sure, it takes eight difficult years of medical studies to become a plastic surgeon, but if you never help someone who is truly disfigured and your only gift to the world is nose-jobs and facelifts, I would value a dog walker's contribution to society more...And even more so, the garbage men/women, who tirelessly haul away the rotten waste on our curbs.
In my limited experience in Europe, I noticed that people tended to value others based on their contributions to society, not their level of income or education. Everyone has a purpose and they are to be respected for it. Our society can be so callous. How easily we write off high school kids who are not academics, rather than engaging them in a trade or some type of skill. Is everyone who does not earn high grades or have access to college destined to linger in low-wage fast food jobs? Not that I intend to bash these people either, they are doing a job few want to do, in fact, one that even few of them want to make a career, but out of responsibility and necessity they DO it.
I don't have an answer for any of this. I'm not sure how to fix our education system or people's classist perceptions.
My husband suggests that one step forward with education may be to allow students to begin pursuing their area of desired area of study in high school (as they do in Germany) rather than waiting until after graduation or college to adopt a major or tackle a career path. If someone loves math, give them more equations; if someone loves literature, pile on the books; if someone is good at making things with their hands, teach them a skill. It may be easier to make it to class each day if you're being taught something you really care about and might want to pursue as a career in the adult world. It may also encourage some kids to stay in school if they feel there's a place for them. I think it's a pretty good suggestion.
As for the classist perceptions, it comes down to each of us, how we view the world and treat the people around us. I find the people most judgmental of others are often the most insecure, because they, too, have bought into the marketing myths of how we all should live. But we don't have to fall for everything we see on TV.
Friday, November 14, 2008
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9 comments:
Check out the work being done by Ken Robinson - he has a really interested philosophy on education and has visited the LV several times.
in today's newspaper, discounting paper routes, there is only about 15 jobs being advertised. on the television lawyers advertise all day about helping people sign up for disability, including for such mental conditions as depression and anxiety. juxtaposition these facts and the dies are cast. the coming economy will not be kind to anybody with motivation problems.
I absolutely agree with your comparison of a dog walker and a plastic surgeon who only does nose jobs. It's an interesting way of looking at the big picture, and a viewpoint I that never came to mind.
As far as starting high schoolers on a career path...I'm not sure this would be a good idea. The means are already in place for students to attend vo-tech, and the rest of the students have a fairly balanced curriculum. If we give the math lovers mostly math and the literature lovers mostly English, then all of a sudden kids are choosing too early. What happens to the high school student who thinks he wants to be an engineer, but isn't sure? You know the engineering schools would value the "math kids" more so than the others, so all of a sudden the pressure is on in 9th grade to get on the right career path by choosing the right track of classes. I just think it's too early and that students benefit from a well-rounded education.
I could see where some kids may not be ready to define their career path in 9th grade, and of course, a well-rounded curriculum is great for expanding a student's view of the world. But I think there may be ways to allow kids to lean toward the area they're interested in early on, similar to what is done at a technical school or specialized charter school. (How to pull this off exactly is something else...)
MM,
You make an interesting comparison and it's pretty depressing. It seems to get a job these days you have to really fight for it.
Anon 5:49,
I will look up Robinson later. Thanks for the reference.
I think there are great points in this post, but I have two comments:
The first is that I think that its too obvious and simple to say "parents really need to be involved in their children's educations." I mean, yes, that should be a given. But the fact is, they aren't. They aren't for a variety of reasons, sometimes parents work late shifts or double shifts or more than one job in order to make ends meet, and they can't be around in the evenings to help their children with homework and studying or to meet with teachers. When I was in high school at Allen, I had peers who had school-aged children, so they were too busy trying to finish their own education before they could help or support their kids (I'm trying real hard not to turn this into a rant against abstinence-only education and the lack of resources for teen moms so extreme that it drives almost all teenaged mothers to drop out). Some are just deadbeats. I mean, really, we all either had or have friends who had a totally crappy childhood with parents who didn't give a damn. You can't force a parent to get involved, or to step up to the plate and raise their children well. So as far as I'm concerned it should be the role of schools to think creatively about ways to compensate for that.
Also, as Marie already touched upon, I think some of the dangers to "concentrating" education in high school is that teenagers aren't really mature enough to make those decisions. I don't really even believe that most college freshman and sophomores are mature enough to make that decision. I also think that this is a problem because not all high school teachers are equal. I hated math class, but my high school math teacher, Richard Kotran (RIP), was the kind of teacher who went above and beyond and who made math work, even for a book nerd like me. His motto was "A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pythagorean spring" (interpretive Alexander Pope). On the other hand, in 9th grade, my English teacher was a horrid old man whose intention was to retire ASAP and had no enthusiasm for teaching. I dreaded every class. I never would have wanted to take another English class again if I had been given the choice at that time.
Anyway, this turned into quite the ramble, but ultimately I think the questions you raise in this blog are very important. Thanks for making such a thoughtful post, and we should all be giving these things good consideration, working to find solutions that work.
Since the US is an assumed "classless" society, people are valued by how much they are able to earn because earning a lot of money means that you've attained the most concrete part of the American Dream. So the rich people, the ones who already have the means to get more money, separate themselves from the lower, dead-end and dirigible classes who really don't have any direction in life because, hey! they don't have ANY good examples to follow except that, hey! those celebrities get respect because they have money, and can only see that if they can emulate their money, then they can get similar respect.
This is at least how I see it. The exporting of steady middle-class jobs out of the city and out of the country has also ruined lower/working class members for examples to follow. If mom/dad/older siblings/community elder can't even find steady, rewarding work, what are the chances of a high-schooler, or even worse, a middle schooler?
It is not just motivation that needs to be increased, it's realistically attainable life goals. Education is the deciding factor in determining future money earnings and, thus, class. I think that mimicking German schooling is a very good idea, but impossible in a school system so dependent on standardized tests. It's tragic how we fail to teach ALL types of learners, not just the auditory/visual learners who can do the standardized tests well.
I'm starting to think that I've been immersed in the American school system for a little too long...
LOLV and KatieBee,
Sorry it took me so long to post your comments. Busy weekend.
I know I didn't delve into "parental involvement" at all. That is very complex. Yes, many parents work two jobs or evening/night shifts where they aren't home with their kids. That's another problem to consider. And there are some parents who don't value education and think school is a waste of time. I don't know how to change their minds. It seems impossible. Unless the government decides to snatch up little kids and privately school and raise them for 18 years (yikes!!!) I don't know how to get around these hurdles. Our society can try to cure poverty but I think there will, sadly, always be these situations.
These comments are interesting. The problem is complex.
The United Way of the Lehigh Valley is doing some important work in Allentown on the model of Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone. I hope I describe this adequately and accurately, but Canada's theory is to provide training, encouragement and resources for all parents, no matter of income or personal situation, with the goal of their kids being able to go to college.
It turns out that the research shows that parents of all income levels who want their children to have the best shot at an education and choices in life can improve the likelihood of this outcome by certain behaviors, such as reading to their kids. Because of the parenting they had, lots of parents who are struggling financially don't know this.
Canada made great progress in Harlem at improving the test scores of kids from the poorest neighborhoods with the parents who had the worst problems.
Now, the United Way here in the Lehigh Valley is considering Central Elementary School in Allentown as a neighborhood school and is pursuing developing a Children's Zone. It is an exciting idea for Allentown.
I encourage people to read the book about Canada's experience in Harlem, Whatever It Takes, and donate to the United Way, directing their contributions to the Children's Zone.
Lastly, I've been thinking lately about the role of good parents. I think the best parents protect their kids and provide a stable, encouraging environment for them, irrespective of their income. How we encourage stability in our community, that's a discussion for another day.
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